leave something behind when you go

A performance directive is a written inscription, composed or constructed from gathered material. One of the particularities of a directive, as opposed to an instruction or a score, is that it is a suggestion towards a possible future or a possible performance. A performance directive is not written in anticipation of a right or wrong answer. Rather than telling how something should be done, it is an invitation. An invitation to be translated according to and depending on the person responding.

Language, idea, and action inform, shape, and incorporate each other. A performance directive is a creative act. It is an invitation to respond with care, to lift from ‘casual’ to ‘eventfulness’. You may want to consider it as a system of limitations that supports proliferation.

Notice there is permissiveness inherent in every directive.

Take a moment to remember a successful directive you’ve been given in the past or maybe you need to remember when you made something you loved and think back to what the initial spark was, what was the first act that lead to the discoveries that became something you were happy to work on?

Make notes on what qualities a successful directive should have.

This is your assignment: Compose, construct, write a directive
Write a directive to bring in to the first day of the third section of The Dove, the Ghost, the Handkerchief Tree. Your directive should address three elements that each refer to a different aspect of material to be generated: duration, speed, rhythm, content (subject), body part, materials, color, text, etc.